Midway Rant

I've taken to a meal called Ban Mai. It's probably not that impressive but after living in Korea so long and not finding decent bread, this sandwich made with long, French-style baguettes is a taste sensation. And it only costs 50 cents! Sometimes I bring my guitar to the Ban Mai stand and sing a song about my love for it. I think it ensures me the best damn sandwich that old man or women will make all day.

Lots of mumbled, drink-charged memories from last night. Darryl and I found ourselves in line, in step, for 6AM calisthenics with the older Vietnamese folks on the beach. They had a ghetto-blaster booming some strong communist instructions and the people knew the routine. I think Darryl and I fit in about as well as Dennis Rodman in Utah. After fully stretching, we jumped into the ocean for a sobering swim. As we fought the intense waves, some kids hid behind shadows and stole everything out of our discarded shorts except for our room-key. Thankfully they left our clothes. They got Darryl's camera and, sadly, or stack of small bills we'd prepared that night just to give to the children on the streets. Oh well, they got it.

This was the 2nd time they'd got us. The Lonely Planet warned that this city, Nha Trang, is especially notorious for creative theft. Just last night, a guy in our guest house was complaining about a women who came up to him on the street, grabbed his crotch, and at the exact same time, emptied his pockets.

We were down as we stumbled home that night. We stopped for some street food and, after eating, remembered we didn't have a coin on us. We explained that we'd been robbed earlier and the older Vietnamese customers chipped in and paid for our meal. They seemed sympathetic but not surprised by the theft. Whatever the cause, we needed their generosity to get up today and continue to "give da money" with a smile.